


Afternoon In

by stephanericher



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Children, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 21:37:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6874594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stephanericher/pseuds/stephanericher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tatsuya brings Shuu along to babysit with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Afternoon In

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Plume_Sombre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plume_Sombre/gifts).



Tatsuya’s cousin Aya is halfway out the door by the time Tatsuya and Shuu arrive. She’d called him over last-minute to watch her kids, ages six and four, because she has errands to run and her husband is visiting his sick uncle, and while Tatsuya had planned to lie around with Shuu all day and maybe catch the early east-coast WNBA game on TV he loves spoiling Aya’s kids whenever he gets the chance.

They’ve never met Shuu, and the younger one, Erika, is a little bit shy, but Tatsuya’s fairly confident that it won’t go too horribly. And it’s only for a few hours, one of which, Aya informs them, the girls will spend napping (or at least quietly in their rooms). Aya kisses them goodbye and tells them to be good before she rushes off, leaving Tatsuya and Shuu in the middle of what looks like a tea party at the dining room table. Marina is wearing what appear to be a pair of her father’s old suit pants, over which she has tied a faded blue beach towel and belted it at the waist. A dented crown is perched at an angle on her head, and her bangs are falling into her face. Erika is wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but on top of that she has on three floral aprons and what looks like half a pound of Mardi Gras beads around her neck. She’s been holding her plastic tea cup suspended in midair ever since Tatsuya and Shuu walked in, and she’s been staring at Shuu the whole time.

“This is my boyfriend, Shuu,” says Tatsuya.

“Nice to meet you,” says Marina. “I’m Marina.”

She elbows her sister.

“Erika, you’re supposed to introduce yourself.”

“I’m Erika,” she mumbles.

“It’s good to meet you, too, Marina and Erika,” says Shuu, offering a smile. “May we join you?”

“Most certainly,” says Marina. “Pour yourselves some tea.”

“It’s water,” Erika mumbles.

“No, it’s tea,” says Marina.

Tatsuya doles out servings of water from the blue plastic teapot at the empty cups in front of himself and Shuu.

“So,” says Marina. “Are you going to get married?”

Shuu’s cup is halfway to his mouth and he almost slams it down on the table, turning bright red. Tatsuya feels his own face begin to warm up and he tries not to look at Shuu. Both Marina and Erika are looking expectant, faces swiveling from Tatsuya to Shuu and back again. Tatsuya feels like cringing but maintains his half-smile; he and Shuu have barely approached the subject (considering they’re only twenty that seems appropriate) and it’s not something he wants to talk about seriously anytime soon, or even really think about.

“Um,” says Shuu. “Maybe…someday?”

“Don’t wait too long,” says Marina. “I want to be flower girl at your wedding.”

Tatsuya’s still only looking at Shuu from the corner of his eye and under his hair; Shuu is staring at the wall behind Erika’s head as steady as a drum machine on loop.

“Do I have to wear these aprons?” says Erika. “They aren’t.”

“Yes,” says Marina. “As lady of the house, you must set a good example for our guests.”

“I want to wear my pirate clothes.”

“We’re ladies, not pirates,” says Marina, slurping some more water from her teacup.

Erika’s lower lip trembles; she bites it and begins to tug at the beads around her neck.

“What if you invited Erika to the tea party as your pirate guest?” says Tatsuya.

Both girls look at him.

“Have pirates at my tea party?”

Marina is presumably trying to look horrified, but instead looks as if she’s going to sneeze.

“Would you be a good pirate, Erika?” says Shuu.

Erika nods, releasing her lip from her teeth.

Marina clearly doesn’t look happy, but she lets Erika trot off to the open chest of old clothes, Shuu following behind her and clearly already smitten.

“We always do what she wants,” Marina grumbles, kicking at the table. “We played pirates all last week and Daddy told me to be a good sister and I was. When’s her turn?”

“We’re still playing tea party,” says Tatsuya. “And after all, if you’re the only lady of the house it means you’re the boss, right?”

Marina’s face brightens.

“And as the host, all you have to do is make sure your guests are happy. And Erika’s happy as a pirate, right?”

Marina nods.

* * *

A little while later Erika’s begun to yawn and despite the fans going full-blast the heat of the day is bogging down everything. It’s nearing the time their mother said to put them down for a nap, or at least a quiet hour. Marina looks like she could go all day, but it’s still not a bad idea to let her wind down a bit—and frankly, they’re wearing Tatsuya out a little bit, too. He catches Shuu’s eye and jerks his head toward the clock.

“I think it’s getting to be quiet time,” says Shuu.

“What? Mommy isn’t here, so we don’t have to have it,” says Marina.

“She said you have it every day,” says Shuu.

Erika nods sleepily and Marina shoots her a glare.

“It’s not fair. You don’t have to have quiet time.”

“Actually, we do,” says Tatsuya.

Marina blinks at him. “What?”

“I’m feeling pretty tired right now, and it looks like Shuu is, too.”

“Yeah,” says Shuu.

“That’s different, though. You want to be quiet.”

Erika yawns again; Tatsuya nudges Shuu. She ought to be put to bed before Marina can drag her into this (if it comes to that, which it most likely won’t). Shuu and Erika walk off down the hall, and Tatsuya moves to follow them. Marina goes, too; instead of staying put or dragging her feet she’s willingly going to her bedroom—this is easier than Tatsuya had let himself hope for (of course, it may not be over quite yet).

“There’s a lot to do in the bedroom. You can read, play with your stuffed animals…” Tatsuya scans the room as he opens the door.

It’s small, with a bookcase and a small wooden desk in one corner across from the bed. On the desk is an open bin full of various dolls, and on the chair is a sketchpad and markers.

“You could draw pictures quietly.”

Marina huffs. “Why can’t I play quietly in the living room with you?”

The right answer is that it most likely wouldn’t be quiet, and she’d end up spending the whole time talking to them or otherwise not unwinding—not that that would satisfy Marina.

“Shuu and I need our own quiet time; we told you that. And since we don’t have a bedroom here we’ll be in the living room.”

“Did Mommy tell you to say that?”

Her sharp eyes scan Tatsuya’s face; Tatsuya smiles.

“No. We really do. Will you stay here for me?”

He resists the urge to tell her that she’ll understand when she’s older; that kind of condescension never helps. Marina looks him up and down and crosses her tiny arms across her chest.

“Fine. But I’m not going to sleep.”

“All right,” says Tatsuya.

Shuu pokes his head in the door. “Hey.”

Tatsuya nods and Shuu walks in; in one hand he’s holding a cup, which he presents to Marina.

“In case you get thirsty.”

Marina takes it, setting it on her nightstand next to a wooden figure of a squirrel that Tatsuya recognizes from visiting his aunt and uncle as a kid—he’d always found it a little creepy, with its carved sunken eyes and awkward pose.

“What do you say, Marina?” says Tatsuya.

“Thank you,” she says, flashing Shuu a smile.

“You’re welcome,” says Shuu. “Enjoy your quiet time.”

Tatsuya follows him back out and closes the door behind them. The hall is quiet; Shuu takes his hand. Tatsuya doesn’t want to say anything here; it’s too quiet—not that it would likely disturb either child, but it feels as if they shouldn’t.

“That was a good idea with the water,” Tatsuya says when they reach the living room. “So she won’t come out and say she’s thirsty?”

“Yeah,” says Shuu. “My brother used that trick on me a few times when I put him down for a nap, and then he came out and chatted with me in the kitchen.”

Tatsuya laughs.

“I got in trouble with my mom because he got crabby later.”

“He probably wouldn’t have slept anyway,” says Tatsuya.

“True,” says Shuuzou.

“How was Erika?”

“Asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.”

“She really likes you,” says Tatsuya. “She doesn’t usually open up so fast.”

“Ah, well,” says Shuu, rubbing the back of his neck.

He’s cute when he’s embarrassed. Tatsuya squeezes his hand.

“Isn’t this supposed to be our quiet time, too?” Shuu grumbles.

Tatsuya smiles. Shuu sits down on the couch; the tips of his ears are red and he’s looking at Tatsuya with too many feelings in his face, his mind more transparent than freshly-cleaned reading glasses. He’s still holding Tatsuya’s hand; their fingers are still locked together, Shuu’s thicker and firmer than Tatsuya’s, his thumb stroking the heel of Tatsuya’s hand.

“Come sit with me,” says Shuu.

Tatsuya’s forgotten how soft these couches are, how his body sinks into the cushions. He leans back and closes his eyes; now isn’t really the time for him to take a nap but sitting half-asleep next to Shuu can’t be a bad thing. And then Shuu leans his head onto Tatsuya’s shoulder.

“Don’t fall asleep on me,” Tatsuya murmurs.

* * *

They don’t miss when the hour’s up. And as much as Tatsuya would like to just leave the kids to their own devices and stay on the couch with Shuu talking about nothing, letting them oversleep isn’t a good idea, especially not when their mother is due back relatively soon.

Tatsuya knocks at Marina’s door, and hearing no response opens it.

Marina’s lying on her bed, completely awake, a stuffed rabbit in each hand.

“Is it over?” she asks, as if she’s been some sort of prisoner kept in a holding cell for days (which, perhaps, she believes is a comparable turn of events).

Tatsuya nods. “You’re free.”

Marina throws the stuffed rabbits into the air; they land on their heads on the floor.

“You should pick those up first,” says Tatsuya.

“Fine,” says Marina.

Shuu’s already in the hallway, Erika still half-asleep and clinging to his hand.

“Erika and I decided we wanted to read a book together,” says Shuu. “Do you want to join us?”

Tatsuya’s about to answer that of course he would, but—Marina. She appears behind him half a second after he looks toward the door.

“Did you hear that?”

“What?”

“Shuu and Erika are reading a book. Would you like to join them?”

“What book?”

Shuu shows her. Marina mouths the title and then nods.

“Okay.”

They make their way back to the living room; Shuu sets the book on the coffee table and sits down but before he can pick it up again Erika’s already hopped in his lap. He clearly doesn’t want to tell her to get off, and right now what’s the harm in spoiling her a little?

“Do you want to read for us, Marina?” says Tatsuya.

Marina shakes her head. “You read.”

“Okay,” says Tatsuya.

He lifts the book up and slides a little closer to Shuu and Erika. Marina shoves herself up against him and stares over at the cover, as if burning the image into her brain.

“ _The Queen of the Forest_ ,” Tatsuya recites.

He opens to the title page and stops there; the illustrations in this book are lovely—a lush clearing, with the title written above a shining blue lake and framed by exquisitely-detailed weeping willow stares back at them. Marina reaches over to turn the page, already over it.

The next page shows a rabbit wearing overalls, a small basket under one paw (arm?) walking on a path.

“Hilda had lived in the forest ever since she was a baby.”

He turns the page.

“She loved the forest. Every day she would walk under the tall trees, hop along the paths looking for wild berries, and play in the bubbling creek.”

He lingers on this page; Erika in particular seems fascinated by the little rabbit dancing with the fish in the stream. He continues through the book as Hilda finds some wild strawberries that belong to a monarch butterfly, who turns out to be the titular queen. Things are about to resolve themselves when Tatsuya hears a key turn in the front door.

“Mommy!” Marina cries, immediately forgetting the book and running down the hall.

Erika doesn’t move from Shuu’s lap. “Can we finish the story?”

“Sure,” says Tatsuya.

Erika smiles at him, and he moves the book closer to her.

“The queen thanked Hilda for her help, and Hilda thanked the queen for sharing her strawberries.”

Tatsuya turns the page again; this must be the end—Hilda is hopping off, facing into the page.

“And so Hilda hopped home with a basket full of fresh strawberries for dinner.”

Marina rushes back into the living room, followed by her mother. “We had so much fun. It was awesome.”

Erika nods. “Yup.”

“Mommy brought back stickers! Come see!”

Erika hops down and follows her sister back down the hall.

“I hope they weren’t any trouble?” Tatsuya’s cousin asks.

“Not at all,” says Shuu. “They’re great kids.”

“Please don’t hesitate to ask us again,” Tatsuya says.

* * *

There’s something so effortlessly attractive about Shuu with Marina and Erika, even as he’d said goodbye to them and Erika had clung to his leg (and it’s hard to be jealous that his cousin likes Shuu better than she likes him even after a few hours, not when they’re so suited to each other and not when they’re both so damn cute). Shuu’s always been good with kids, his own younger siblings and Alex’s younger students, but there’s something about this that hits Tatsuya in the gut, not in a sexual or even purely physical way. It just kind of does.

He’s the one who reaches for Shuu’s hand first as they walk home; he doesn’t say anything but he doesn’t need to. The lengthening shadows of the Saturday afternoon say enough themselves, and so does Shuu’s thumb on the heel of Tatsuya’s hand once again.

**Author's Note:**

> for fafa by twit request (nijihimu + young kids)! ...im out of practice writing that age range tho lmao i hope it doesn't show too much


End file.
